The Jungle

By Upton Sinclair

“I would be reading the early muckrakers’ books: Ida Tarbell on Standard Oil, or Upton Sinclair on the meat plants in Chicago. I would be quite young reading these books — ten, eleven, twelve, and trembling with excitement. I remember how exciting it was just to read the books.”

About the book

This shocking story of the Chicago stockyards was a national sensation when it was first published. Sinclair’s revelation of the dangerous and unsanitary conditions under which brutally exploited workers prepared America’s food caused an immediate demand for pure-foods legislation.